On June 6-7, a large-scale business forum “Doing business in Ukraine: challenges and opportunities” was held in Warsaw by the Ministry of Economy of Ukraine, USAID, DIIA. Business Warsaw and ZPP. Attorney, managing partner of EUCON, Chairman of the Board of the Association of Ukrainian Business in Poland Yaroslav Romanchuk became a speaker at the event.
The forum was held to provide Ukrainian businesses with information about available opportunities and grant programs from the Government of Ukraine and the USAID Competitive Economy of Ukraine Program, as well as about effective tools for business recovery and development. Speakers of the event shared with the participants their experience of overcoming the challenges caused by the full-scale invasion of Russia in Ukraine, in particular about the relocation of businesses to safer regions, the restoration of its activities, and the preservation and increase of export volumes in war conditions.
Yaroslav Romanchuk emphasised the main challenges that arose at the beginning of the full-scale invasion, including 1) the need to support and ensure safe conditions for one’s own family, employees of the organization and the company; 2) providing support and assistance to clients, especially those who find themselves in the war zone; 3) operational collection and delivery of humanitarian aid, in particular military aid. The speaker emphasized that the third point was quickly and successfully implemented thanks to the members of the AUBP, who immediately responded and provided all the necessary resources to implement the adjustment of the flow of humanitarian aid to Ukraine.
Mr. Romanchuk noted that currently the situation with ensuring proper conditions for workers is stable, but the issue of business relocation assistance remains, although the very nature and directions of assistance have changed, as in the humanitarian sphere.
Currently, the question of helping Polish investors to prepare for entering the Ukrainian market is relevant. For this purpose, the Association organizes special events (forums), which have become a communication platform for business and government representatives of the regions of Ukraine most affected by the war. In addition, the book “Business Law of Ukraine for Polish Investors” is planned to be released soon in Polish, which will be useful for Polish entrepreneurs who plan to participate in the reconstruction of Ukraine.
Among the organisations that provide active support to Ukrainian business, Yaroslav Romanchuk noted the activities of the Polish Development Fund, which includes financial government organisations, in particular PAIH, which provides support and financial instruments for Ukrainian entrepreneurs in Poland, ZPP, the Entrepreneurship Council under the President of Poland, DIIA. Business Warsaw, USAID and Associations of Ukrainian Business in Poland. The speaker did not ignore the support of startups, in particular, the activities of StartupBridge in this direction.
The participants of the session were also:
- Oleksandra Ilyashenko – director of DIIA.Business Warsaw;
- Marcin Nowacki – vice president of Związek Przedsiębiorców I Pracodawców (ZPP);
- Hanna Krysyuk – president of the Business Woman Club;
- Dina Sidash is the vice president of the Dnipropetrovsk Chamber of Commerce and Industry.
